Psalm 122 is the song of a person who not only decides to attend to the worship
of God but also is glad about it. This is a person who can't think of any
place he or she would rather be than in the house of the Lord.
Psalm 122 is part of a collection known as the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120
to 134). They are songs for the road. They are songs that Hebrew pilgrims
sang on their way to Jerusalem to worship God. This third in the series is
a song of arrival. The singers are now in the city of Jerusalem, which was
their goal. Verse 2 says, "Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem."
So they rejoice that they've made it to the city of God, and very soon they'll
have opportunity to enter into worship. "I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV).
People are hungry for the authentic presence of God. They come to churches
hoping to find that hunger satisfied. Given that, it's amazing that the saints
can become so casual about worship. An ever present danger for the church
is losing sight of the heart of worship. Our first work as Christians is to
worship God in spirit and in truth. Everything else we do as the church must
flow out of our worship. If it does not, then it's nothing more than self-effort.
In this song, the psalmist identifies three things that make worship so critical
to our lives. First, gathering for worship gives a necessary structure and
rhythm to life. Verses 3-4: "Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely
compacted together. That is where the tribes go up." Worship provides
a kind of boundary to life. It's a point from which all of life can be ordered
and aligned.
Second, worship nurtures our hunger to be in relationship with God. In the
last part of verse 4 the psalmist says that all of this is "according
to the statute given to Israel." In other words, worship is not just
a good idea, it's the law of God.
Third, worship centers our attention on the decisions of God. Verse 5: "There
the thrones for judgment stand." What does that mean? Worship is the
place where we hear, "Thus says the Lord." Essentially God says
to us, This is how I've created things to be, this is how things work, and
this is what you can trust your life to.
As we come before God in worship, He promises two things: shalom and shalvah,
peace and security. Peace is the wholeness and sanity of life that only comes
when we are properly oriented to God. Security is the trust of a God who preserves
our lives by keeping us from the evil that is so prevalent in the world.
As Christians, we are invited to pray that the Kingdom might come on earth
as it is in heaven. There's a similar thought in this psalm. Verse 6 says,
"For the peace of Jerusalem." In other words, in the places of our
lives. Prayer moves worship into the everyday world. It creates the intersection
between a holy God and our everyday lives.
(For a complete manuscript of this sermon, go to www.preachersmagazine.org.)
I began this sermon by talking about all the excuses that people use to avoid
attending church. Some of them are quite humorous. Some of them are maddening.
Eugene Peterson writes, "There was a time when I responded to such statements
with simple arguments that exposed them as flimsy excuses. Then I noticed
that it didn't make any difference, so I don't respond anymore. . . . [Now]
I listen and go home and pray that the person will one day find the one sufficient
reason for going to church, which is God."2
Indeed the desired outcome of this sermon is to help our people remember that
worship is not about them. It's not about the schedules or styles or sermons
that they prefer. It's all about God and His amazing invitation to enter into
His life, to hear His word to us and allow that word to have its way with
us.
Everything of lasting value that the church has given to me comes out of worship.
In worship I met God as a person to be authentically responded to. I learned
to voice my praise to God. I learned the comfort of corporate prayer. In worship
I learned to bear witness to Christ. I learned that I can no longer live demanding
my own rights, but that all personal preferences gives way to a singular focus
on God who alone is worthy of my worship.
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1. This sermon is based on chapter 4 of Eugene H. Peterson's book, A Long
Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (Downers
Grove, Ill.:InterVarsity Press, 1980).
2. Ibid., 45.
